Saturday, October 12, 2013

Review: The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes



I have had so much fun reading all the great posts, interviews and seeing all the giveaways. I think my TBR pile is seriously going to be suffering for it too!

We still have lots for you as our month long tour continues hosted by Heidi at Rainy Day Ramblings, Candace at Candace Book Blog, Maja at The Nocturnal Library and of course me!

Keep checking back every day for more fun stops, posts and giveaways. Also, don't forget to enter or big giveaway for a $50 giftcard to Amazon! The giveaway can be found HERE

Today's stop is with Heidi and author Carol Goodman and her new book Blythewood!


Tomorrow you can also look forward to:

Candace@Candace's Book Blog: Cat Winters: In the Shadow of Blackbirds

A huge thank you not only to my co-hosts but also for everyone who has participated so far and is signed up for more great posts throughout the month. This truly has been a blast and I am so excited to see what else is in store for us!!


I have a great review for you today not only because it was a fun book to read but because it fits perfectly with this months theme of Something Wicked.




Title: The Naturals
Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Series: Stand Alone with Possible Series/Sequel
Published By: Disney-Hyperion (November 5, 2013)
Source: ARC Copy Provided by the Publisher (in exchange for an honest review)
Genre: YA Fantasy/Thriller
My Rating: 4 Stars!!


Book Description:
Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.

What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides— especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own.

Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.


Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.





My Thoughts and Review:
I have come to count on books published by Disney-Hyperion for their outstanding writing, plot lines and even their uniqueness. Yes, I realize I really own those attributes to the authors because it is after all their work, their talent that make the books so fabulous. But Disney seems to have a talent of their own at finding these amazing authors and publishing them. Which is why I have come to to trust them when picking up a book I know they have published. I know I will be getting a great entertaining read. A read, just like the read I found in The Naturals.

Now to be fair, I have already enjoyed Ms. Barnes previous work so I was pretty sure that I would like this too but it is always nice to know that you weren't wrong, that you were right in trusting the publisher and author. If there is one thing Barnes can be accredited for is her total uniqueness. Even if the idea has done before she will put a spin or a twist to it that will completely change everything and make it a stand out story.

At any rate, I dove right into this one expecting lots and hoping for some fun with character that would stand out and blow me away.

Enter Cassie. Yep, I liked her after the first chapter. Different, cautious, smart, a little damaged, witty, what's not to like?

The fact that we get an inside look into the demented mind of the killer was pure genius if not exceptionally creepy. They is troubled, disturbed and they like what they do and they do it well.

Michael, Lia, Dean, Sloane, are all curious characters that I would have loved to get inside of, to get a real glimpse of all their inner workings. My only complaint about this whole story is that we didn't get more insider info on them. To see what really made them tick but there was just enough detail to keep you wanting more and enough to satisfy my curiosity just enough to not dwell on it too much or be too sad that there wasn't more. 


The ending, wow that ending. I didn't see it coming. I really didn't. I loved it really. So much happened, so many mind blowing things. I really really hope that there will be a sequel, heck, I hope this will become a whole series. I think it would be one heck of a fun ride and one I want to be a part of.








*All thoughts and opinions are my own and were not influenced by the author or publisher. I was not compensate for this review.*

14 comments:

  1. Well, I'm in. It sounds a little different than the average investigative story. I like the cover and the idea behind it. :-)

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  2. Thanks emaginette! It is definitely a fun story.

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  3. This does sound like a great book. I've been wondering about it. Great review!

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  4. I had to skim, first and last sentence since this is up for review on my blog in Nov. I totally agree about Hyperion ..i have read some stellar books by them, and cannot wait to read this :)

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  5. I haven't read any of her books yet but this sounds great and may be a good place to start!

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  6. No worries Kim, there aren't any spoilers!!

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  7. I'm totally with you about this publisher. They have yet to disappoint me. And on man, I love the sound of this book. For some reason I thought it was totally different than what it is. Now I want to read it! I don't know whether to be happy with you or mad at you. ;P

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  8. I have this novel for review and I am even more excited to get to it now! Thanks for the helpful review!

    Emily @ Falling For YA

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  9. Thanks for stopping by Emily and I hope you enjoy this one too!

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  10. Sounds awesome. I hope there was enough closure in case there isn't a sequel.

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  11. This sounds awesome! I think I'm going to love Cassie, especially after this description "Different, cautious, smart, a little damaged, witty, what's not to like?" :-)

    You're so right, Disney is knocking it out of the park lately. I haven't read anything of theirs in a long time that I had to DNF or just didn't enjoy. It's nice to be able to count on an imprint to put out quality reads consistently. Great review!

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